First lady Jill Biden is said to have spoken out strongly after last week’s debate about Democrats wanting to strip President Joe Biden of the 2024 Democratic nomination.
Although the president has said he has no plans to resign, he is known for talking to a wide range of people but only listening to the views of a very narrow circle, including his wife.
And Jill is said to reflect poorly on those who want to kick her husband off the ticket, as she is reportedly the driving force behind his push to stay in the race. The claim was made by ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz moments after Biden’s make-or-break interview with the network on Friday night.
The “inner circle” of voters, including a select circle of advisers — including son Hunter — are telling Biden, 81, that he can win and that he should continue his re-election campaign.
This past weekend, the Bidens escaped for a post-debate debriefing and a reportedly pre-scheduled photo shoot with celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz at Camp David.
First lady Jill Biden is now said to be ‘lashing out’ at Democrats who want to strip President Joe Biden of the 2024 Democratic nomination, following last week’s debate
From the presidential log cabins, Jill called Vogue magazine with a last-minute update on her cover interview, which was scheduled to appear on Monday.
‘[We] will not let those 90 minutes define the four years [Joe’s] president. We will continue to fight,” Jill, 73, insisted to Vogue.
“The only person who has ultimate influence over him is the first lady,” a source said earlier this week. “If she decides there needs to be a change of course, there will be a change of course.
“The decision-makers are two people: the president and his wife,” the source added. “Anyone who does not understand how deeply personal and familial this decision is has no knowledge of the situation.”
Biden’s top advisers have also urged his staff to remain strong in meetings. According to a senior administration official, they have announced a mission statement: “We will weather the storm, just as we always have.”
The “inner circle” of voices, including a select circle of advisers — including son Hunter — are telling Biden, 81, that he can win and that he should continue his re-election bid.
The president himself made an attempt to get his re-election bid back on track in a recorded interview that lasted just 22 minutes, in which Biden continued to insist that his poor poll results were untrue and that the Democratic Party had no concerns about his fitness to lead.
Biden said he would only withdraw from the race if “the Lord Almighty would come down and tell me.”
Friday night’s interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos was meant to be damage control, but it only served to anger Democratic politicians and big donors who have been pushing for Trump’s resignation ever since that disastrous debate with Trump.
Biden blamed “exhaustion” and “being sick” for his poor debate performance, which has derailed his entire re-election campaign.
But there is a movement within the party that wants to persuade him to step down. Critics warn that he is almost certain to lose and that he could drag other Democrats down with him.
A handful of Democrats have publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race, while there is movement in the Senate — led by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner — to have Democrats in the upper chamber also ramp up the pressure.
Although the president has said he has no plans to step down, he is known for talking to a wide range of people but only listening to the views of a very narrow circle, including his wife.
House Democrats and a group of senators are expected to meet in Washington next week to discuss the issue.
A handful of Democrats have publicly called on Biden to withdraw from the race, while there is movement in the Senate — led by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner — to have Democrats push into the upper chamber as well.
Warner, a respected moderate Democrat, is inviting Democratic senators to a meeting on Monday to discuss Biden’s campaign, a source told Reuters.
According to the Washington Post, Warner wanted to ask the group to pressure Biden to withdraw from the race.
Biden told reporters he had spoken to at least 20 lawmakers and they told him to stay. Asked about Warner’s call to leave, Biden said, “Well, Mark Warner is, to my knowledge, the only one who’s considering that.”
Biden continues to resist such efforts. In a fiery speech in Madison earlier Friday, he said, “I’m staying in the race.”
Some polls show Trump has increased his lead since the debate, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll found one in three Democrats wants Biden to drop out of the race.
Biden rejected the motion on Friday.
“We had a little debate last week. I can’t say it was my best performance. But there’s been a lot of speculation since then. ‘What’s Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to get out?’ Biden said. ‘Well, here’s my answer: I’m going to go in and win again.’
But he also added that he is ready to “beat Trump again in 2020.”
And when Stephanopoulos asked the 81-year-old, “Did you watch the debate afterwards?” Biden indicated he wasn’t sure.
“I don’t think so,” the President replied.
The Clinton aide-turned-ABC News anchor then asked Biden if he knew in real time that he was carrying out a bombing.
In the short clip, he is also said to have said that he had received more medical care than what press officer Karine Jean-Pierre had initially told the press.
“Actually, the doctors were with me. I asked if they had done a COVID test, because they were trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see if I had an infection, you know, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold,” Biden said.
A tanned Joe Biden made a bizarre claim about inventing a computer chip during his show-stopping interview on Friday
Biden spoke to Stephanopoulos in a voice that resembled the weak, raspy voice of his debate show, after questioning whether he had even watched the debate again. He said, “I don’t know why” he had done such a poor job.
He insisted he was not weaker and was “still in good shape.” He said he was “continuously assessed” by his personal physicians and that they “would not hesitate to tell me” if anything was wrong.
During the interview, Biden said he is “constantly assessed” by his personal physicians and that they “have no hesitation in telling me” if something is wrong.
“Can I run 100 in 10? No. But I’m still in good shape,” Biden said.